BACKGROUND
Elevated levels of impulsivity and increased risk taking are thought to be core features of both bipolar disorder (BD) and addictive disorders. Given the high rates of comorbid alcohol abuse in BD, alcohol addiction may exacerbate impulsive behavior and risk-taking propensity in BD. Here we examine multiple dimensions of impulsivity and risk taking, using cognitive tasks and self-report measures, in BD patients with and without a history of alcohol abuse.

METHODS
Thirty-one BD subjects with a prior history of alcohol abuse or dependence (BD-A), 24 BD subjects with no history of alcohol abuse/dependence (BD-N), and 25 healthy control subjects (HC) were assessed with the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and the computerized Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART).

RESULTS
Both BD groups scored significantly higher than controls on the BIS. In contrast, only the BD-A group showed impaired performance on the BART. BD-A subjects popped significantly more balloons than the BD-N and HC groups. In addition, subjects in the BD-A group failed to adjust their performance after popping balloons. Severity of mood symptomatology was not associated with performance on either task.

DISCUSSION
The current study supports a primary role of prior alcohol abuse in risk-taking propensity among patients with bipolar disorder. In addition, findings suggest that impulsivity and risky behavior, as operationalized by self-report and experimental cognitive probes, respectively, are separable constructs that tap distinct aspects of the bipolar phenotype.


Near-u.v. and far-u.v. c.d. spectra of human alpha-calcitonin-gene-related peptide (h alpha CGRP), analogues and fragments of CGRP and amylin were recorded in aqueous solution and in trifluoroethanol (TFE)/water mixtures. All peptides contained significant amounts of alpha-helix in aqueous solution, and this amount increased on adding TFE. The helical content was unaffected by pH and salt. However, amylin contained much less helix than CGRP and the c.d. spectrum was more temperature-sensitive. A band in the near-u.v. c.d. spectrum of CGRP (but not present in the spectrum of amylin) was attributed to the disulphide bond in CGRP. The intensity of this band was pH-dependent and titrated with a pKa of 6.5, suggesting the involvement of histidine ionization.


SUMMARY The present study evaluated the behaviour of the AusBeef model for beef production as part of a 2 × 2 study simulating performance on forage-based and concentrate-based diets from Oceania and North America for four methane (CH4)-relevant outputs of interest. Three sensitivity analysis methods, one local and two global, were conducted. Different patterns of sensitivity were observed between forage-based and concentrate-based diets, but patterns were consistent within diet types. For the local analysis, 36, 196, 47 and 8 out of 305 model parameters had normalized sensitivities of 0, >0, >0·01 and >0·1 across all diets and outputs, respectively. No parameters had a normalized local sensitivity >1 across all diets and outputs. However, daily CH4 production had the greatest number of parameters with normalized local sensitivities >1 for each individual diet. Parameters that were highly sensitive for global and local analyses across the range of diets and outputs examined included terms involved in microbial growth, volatile fatty acid (VFA) yields, maximum absorption rates and their inhibition due to pH effects and particle exit rates. Global sensitivity analysis I showed the high sensitivity of forage-based diets to lipid entering the rumen, which may be a result of the use of a feedlot-optimized model to represent high-forage diets and warrants further investigation. Global sensitivity analysis II showed that when all parameter values were simultaneously varied within ±10% of initial value, >96% of output values were within ±20% of the baseline, which decreased to >50% when parameter value boundaries were expanded to ±25% of their original values, giving a range for robustness of model outputs with regards to potential different 'true' parameter values. There were output-specific differences in sensitivity, where outputs that had greater maximum local sensitivities displayed greater degrees of non-linear interaction in global sensitivity analysis I and less variance in output values for global sensitivity analysis II. For outputs with less interaction, such as the acetate : propionate ratio and microbial protein production, the single most sensitive term in global sensitivity analysis I contributed more to the overall total-order sensitivity than for outputs with more interaction, with an average of 49, 33, 15 and 14% of total-order sensitivity for microbial protein production, acetate : propionate ratio, CH4 production and energy from absorbed VFAs, respectively. Future studies should include data collection for highly sensitive parameters reported in the present study to improve overall model accuracy.


Among a spate of recent articles addressing the legacy of Stuart Hall's work on ideology and the media, John Downey, Gavan Titley and Jason Toynbee have recently argued for the urgent need to recover the key dimensions of Hall's ideology critique. While affirming the need for an effective critique of neoliberalism, this article takes issue with two aspects of Downey et al.'s article: first, their principal claim that ideology critique has been marginalised within the neoliberal academy, and second, their flippant dismissal of the benefits of a Foucauldian approach for critiquing neoliberalism and thinking more reflexively about ideology.


In the summer of 1995, magnetotelluric data were acquired at forty sites along a southwest-northeast profile crossing northwestern Turkey in continental Europe. The traverse, 204 km in length, crossed the boundary between a metamorphic mass called the Istranca Massif and a large Tertiary sedimentary basin called the Thrace Basin. The pseudosections of Mohr-circle-based rotational invariant characteristics of the magnetotelluric data such as central impedance (d3), anisotropy angle (λ) and phase of central impedance (φd3) were prepared with classical magnetotelluric parameters (apparent resistivity and impedance phase), and detailed Mohr-circle displays were shown for selected stations as a function of the Bostick depth. The pseudosections and the Mohr-circle displays suggest that the northeast Thrace region is geologically more complex than the southwest region, where the Istranca Massif bounds the Thrace Basin by a steep NW-SE-oriented fault, possibly with a considerable component of normal slip. In the southwest Thrace region, NE-SW-oriented faults with a component of strike slip occur, forming a broad structural uplift to the north of Saroz Bay. We also find that the most evident changes in geoelectrical strike directions are related to changes in thickness of the upper crust and electromagnetic dimensionality effects, knowledge of which is extremely important in modelling and inversion of data, are predominant on the magnetotelluric data set.


Abstract In birds and mammals with 'helpers-at-the-nest', some individuals not only feed unrelated offspring, but also compete to do so. Non-adaptive explanations for alloparental care do not predict competition for access to offspring that, in its most extreme form, can include kidnapping young from adjacent territories. A common adaptive explanation holds that allofeeding promotes a 'social bond', with non-relatives. This proximate hypothesis does not explain why the recipient later cooperates with or helps at the nest of its former benefactor. An extension of this hypothesis posits that, by helping to care for unrelated young, individuals may take advantage of a kin-recognition mechanism based on associations learned by nestlings while being fed. The deceived young later may offer assistance according to its perceived relatedness to the former helper. This mechanism, termed kinship deceit, may be a form of bet-hedging in cooperative breeding systems where mortality is high, where breeders can benefit from contributions by helpers, and where helpers normally assist relatives.


Monitoring and predicting quality properties of complex systems relies on collecting and analyzing huge amounts of data at run time. Machine learning is frequently adopted to analyze time series and event data, often coming from multiple systems. In such a context, extracting and preprocessing data is an essential but also highly tedious task. In this paper, we thus present an offline preprocessing framework that can handle multivariate time series and event data in a multisystem environment that also takes the system's topology into account. After a discussion of the key requirements, we present the architecture and implementation of our highly configurable and easy-to-use framework. We demonstrate how the framework allows to extract data and to yield output files for machine learning via configuration settings. In a two-step evaluation, we investigate the framework's usefulness and scalability. We demonstrate the usefulness in an event prediction case study of real-world multi-system time series data. Our results show the significant impact of different data preprocessing settings on machine learning. Our experiments further demonstrate that processing performance scales linearly with respect to the number of systems and time series.


Abstract The aim of the present study was to increase the understanding of how the cell surface properties affect the performance of unit operations used in primary protein purification. In particular, the purpose was to develop, set up and apply methods for studies of cell surface properties and cell interactions. A method for microbial cell surface fingerprinting using surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is suggested. Four different Escherichia coli strains were used as model cells. Cell surface fingerprints were generated by registration of the interaction between the cells and four different surfaces, with different physical and chemical properties, when a cell suspension was flown over the surface. Significant differences in fingerprint pattern between some of the strains were observed. The physical properties of the cell surfaces were determined using microelectrophoresis, contact angle measurements and aqueous two-phase partitioning and were compared with the SPR fingerprints. The generated cell surface fingerprints and the physical property data were evaluated with multivariate data analysis that showed that the cells were separated into individual groups in a similar way using principal component analysis plots (PCA). Studies of the behaviour of the model cells on stirred cell filtration and in an interaction test with different expanded bed adsorption (EBA) adsorbents were performed. It could be concluded that especially one of the strains behaved differently. Differences in the properties of the model cells were indicated by microelectrophoresis and aqueous two-phase partitioning which to some extent correlated with observed differences in behaviour during filtration and in an interaction test with EBA adsorbents. The impact of high-pressure homogenisation of E. coli cell extract was examined, with a lab scale and a pilot scale technique. The DNA-fragmentation, visualised with agarose gel electrophoresis, and the resulting change in viscosity was analysed. A short homogenisation time resulted in increased viscosity of the process solution that correlated with increased concentration of released non-fragmented DNA. With longer homogenisation time the viscosity decreased with increasing degree of DNA-fragmentation. The results show that strain dependant cell surface properties of E. coli may have an impact on several primary steps in downstream processing.


When we test a theory using data, it is common to focus on correctness: do the predictions of the theory match what we see in the data? But we also care about completeness: how much of the predictable variation in the data is captured by the theory? This question is difficult to answer, because in general we do not know how much "predictable variation" there is in the problem. In this paper, we consider approaches motivated by machine learning algorithms as a means of constructing a benchmark for the best attainable level of prediction. We illustrate our methods on the task of prediction of human-generated random sequences. Relative to an atheoretical machine learning algorithm benchmark, we find that existing behavioral models explain roughly 10 to 12 percent of the predictable variation in this problem. This fraction is robust across several variations on the problem. We also consider a version of this approach for analyzing field data from domains in which human perception and generation of randomness has been used as a conceptual framework; these include sequential decision-making and repeated zero-sum games. In these domains, our framework for testing the completeness of theories suggest that existing theoretical models may be more complete in their predictions for some domains than for others, suggesting that our methods can offer a comparative perspective across settings. Overall, our results indicate that (i) there is a significant amount of structure in this problem that existing models have yet to capture and (ii) there are rich domains in which machine learning may provide a viable approach to testing completeness.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of applying the planning characteristics of Neowa houses
to contemporary residential structures. Contrary to the popular assumption that traditional Korean houses have decentralized
plans, local building traditions observed in Neowa houses show that the diversity among hanoks allows the incorporation
of traditional spatial organization into the contemporary residences. By analyzing the spatial organization of Neowa
houses, three advantageous planning characteristics were found. First, the presence of indoor wooden floors (maru or
daechung) as well as outdoor wooden floors in Neowa houses is practical for Korea's weather marked by humid summers
and icy winters. Secondly, the internal orientation of space in Neowa houses is more appropriate in the contemporary
context of a highly urbanized society emphasizing family privacy. Thirdly, the flexibility and interchangeability of interior
elements can be applied to improve efficiency. By applying the aforementioned characteristics, this study suggests ways
to adopt traditional features to improve contemporary residences.


From 1996 to 1998 five different tillage systems were compared in maize (Zea mays L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production on one experimental field (silty loam - Albic Luvisol) located in north-west Slavonia, Croatia. The compared tillage systems were as follows: conventional tillage (CT), reduced conventional tillage (RT), conservation tillage I (CP), conservation tillage II (CM), no-tillage system (NT). The aim of the research was to determine the influence of those tillage systems on the energy and labour requirement, and on the yield of the maize and of the winter wheat. Comparing the energy requirement to CT system, RT system required 16.1% less, CP system 26.9% less, CM system 40.8% less, while NT system required even 85.1% less energy per hectare. The labour requirement showed that RT system saved 16.4%, while CP system required 20.5% less, CM system 39.5% less labour respectively. NT system saved 82.1% of labour in comparison to CT system. The first year greatest maize yield of 7.78 Mg ha-1 was achieved with CT system, while other systems in comparison to CT system, except RT, achieved not significantly lower yields. The second year greatest winter wheat yield of 5.89 Mg ha-1 achieved CM system, while other systems in comparison to CM, except RT, achieved not significantly lower yields.


To evaluate the maternal serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate level as a factor associated with the outcome of labor induction. Venous blood was collected from 45 women at the initiation of labor induction. Pregnancies complicated by maternal corticosteroid use, antepartum chorioamnionitis, or cesarean delivery for indications other than arrest disorders, were excluded from analysis. In 42 women meeting inclusion criteria, induction followed established protocol. Serum dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels were measured by radioimmunoassay and correlated with the outcome of each induction attempt. A successful result was defined as progression to active labor. The welch approximate t-test, Mann-Whitney test, Fisher exact test, simple regression, and multiple regression were used for statistical analysis, with p<0.05 considered to be significant. The mean (±standard error) dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate level was higher in women who progressed to active labor (n=25) than in those with unsuccessful attempts (n=17), (48.63±6.53 μg/dl versus 26.86 ± 5.17 mg/dl, respectively; p= 0.03). Compared with women with dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels above 60 μg/dl, women with lower levels had an unsuccessful induction odds ratio (OR) of 6.92 (95% confidence interval 1.74, 32.52, p= 0.01). The OR increased as dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate levels decreased. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate may be an important factor in successful labor induction. Acta Medica Iranica, 41(2): 91-93; 2003


This article addresses the meaning of the great commandment of love (Mt. 22:35–40) with afocus on the understanding of self-love as considered within a Christian context. Christians ingeneral understand the commandment as applying to love of God and one's neighbour. Thereference to self-love tends to be ignored or misunderstood, especially when love of self isviewed in the context of the Christian virtues of humility and self-mortification. The conceptof narcissism (self-preoccupation or self-glorification) has devastating effects on relationshipswith God, human beings and the world. In the Christian context self-love is not a thirdcommandment and it is not clearly outlined in Scripture. Furthermore, the love of oneselfseems to be the norm by which the love of God and neighbour are measured. It appearstherefore that by bringing narcissism into the equation of self-love, a better understanding canbe achieved of what a healthy Christian self-love should entail. Furthermore, a brief discussionon the views of the self as mind, emotions and will as well as agape, philia and eros is requiredfor a proposed integrated self-love reading.


Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder caused by the loss of dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra. The most effective treatment is DA replacement therapy using the DA precursor L-DOPA, which can unfortunately often result in L-DOPAinduced dyskinesia (LID). Animal studies in hemi-Parkinsonian rats have shown glutamatergic NMDA receptor antagonists to be effective in treating both PD symptoms and LID. However, the cognitive side effects prevent these drugs from passing clinical trials. Upregulation of GLT-1, the primary glutamate transporter that removes glutamate from the synapse, could be an alternative to direct receptor antagonism. The β-lactam antibiotic ceftriaxone has been shown to substantially increase GLT-1 protein expression and activity in the brain without side effects. In Experiment 1 it was found that sub-chronic injections of 100 mg/kg ceftriaxone in unilaterally 6OHDA-lesioned rats caused a 44% increase in impaired forepaw stepping, a measure of bradykinesia, that lasted at least 30 days after the last ceftriaxone injection. In Experiment 2, subchronic injections of 50 mg/kg ceftriaxone resulted in a 41% increase in impaired forepaw stepping that was found to be equivalent to that produced by 10 mg/kg L-DOPA. However unlike ceftriaxone, treatment with L-DOPA resulted in the development of L-DOPA-induced dyskinesia. Ceftriaxone was able to slow the development of LID, but not decrease the expression of pre-established LID. Indicating that the effects of ceftriaxone on forepaw stepping were due to enhanced GLT-1 function, injections of the selective GLT-1 inhibitor, dihydrokainate (DHK) reduced the improvement in stepping produced by ceftriaxone. Collectively, these data indicate that ceftriaxone may be a superior treatment for Parkinson's disease than L-DOPA.


This paper describes three important pillars of publishing programs emerging at university libraries: providing a robust publishing platform, engaging the academic community in discussions about scholarly communication, and building a suite of production level services. The experiences of the Public Knowledge Project, the Simon Fraser University Library, and the University of Toronto Library's journal hosting service are examined as case studies. Detailed information is provided about the development of the Public Knowledge Project, its goals and history, and the tools it offers. Campus activities at Simon Fraser University have been coordinated to support the use of PKP tools, and to raise awareness on campus about the changing landscape of scholarly publishing. The University of Toronto's journal hosting service is profiled as another example. The role of university libraries in bringing together scholars, publishing tools and new models of scholarly publishing is considered.


This thesis discusses the relationship between the usability of products and the dynamics and diversity of use situations, and how this can be dealt with in product design processes. The usability of products is influenced by the situation in which the product is used. Consequently, when products are used in dynamic and diverse use situations (DDUS) the level of usability is diverse as well. For designers it could be difficult to predict these use situations and their consequences for usability. A study in design practice showed that designers often use knowledge of personal experiences or previous design projects for this purpose. However, this knowledge is often not shared between members of a product development team. This can negatively influence decision making with regard to choosing the best solution proposal or choosing the use situations which the product should accommodate. Moreover, it can negatively influence the external validity and focus of usability evaluations. Therefore a set of design guidelines was developed aimed at guiding designers in creating an explicit frame of reference of DDUS and the consequences for usability, and applying this frame of reference in decision making and usability evaluations. Furthermore, the Envisioning Use workshop technique was developed, which is aimed at sharing implicit and explicit knowledge of DDUS in a product development team, by jointly creating a first explicit frame of reference. Both the workshop and the guidelines were developed iteratively by applying and evaluating these supports in multiple design projects in both design practice and student projects. The evaluations showed that the workshop not only led to an explicit frame of reference of DDUS, but to a `shared vision? on product use as well. This shared vision was experienced as valuable in decision making processes. The application of the guidelines furthermore showed that working with an explicit frame of reference indeed leads to more focus in usability evaluations, and can improve their external validity. Finally the studies showed that `exploring usability? is a valuable approach in creating the explicit frame of reference. This approach combines exploring with verifying the connections between DDUS and usability issues.


Total Quality Management (TQM) principles, practices and tools are used to outline a personal checklist. This simple management system allows a manager to track undesirable and desirable job performance behaviors and establish a proactive, quality-based management style as well as a foundation to effectively apply TQM tools.


Demands on the resources of the deep-sea have increased in recent years. Consequently, the need to create and implement a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to help manage and protect these resources has become a global political priority. Efforts are currently underway to implement MPA networks in the deep North East Atlantic. To ensure these networks are effective, it is essential that baseline information be available to inform the conservation planning process. Using empirical data, we calculated conservation targets for sessile benthic invertebrates in the deep North East Atlantic for consideration during the planning process. We assessed Species-Area Relationships across two depth bands (200–1100 m and 1100–1800 m) and nine substrata. Conservation targets were predicted for each substratum within each depth band using z-values obtained from fitting a power model to the Species-Area Relationships of observed and estimated species richness (Chao1). Results suggest an MPA network incorporating 10% of the North East Atlantic's deep-sea area would protect approximately 58% and 49% of sessile benthic species for the depth bands 200–1100 m and 1100–1800 m, respectively. Species richness was shown to vary with substratum type indicating that, along with depth, substratum information needs to be incorporated into the conservation planning process to ensure the most effective MPA network is implemented in the deep North East Atlantic.


Literary representations of revenge frequently encourage us to question the motivations behind such an impulse towards symmetry and coherence, as well as the outcomes of such a quest. In this sense, such literary representations relate closely to tragedy itself, the dramatic genre in which revenge is most often given aesthetic form in the shape of revenge tragedy. While this particular sub-genre is principally located on the Renaissance stage, it has its roots in the Senecan tradition, which itself draws on classical Greek drama. This article aims to explore representations of revenge in tragedy from Sophocles to Shakespeare, focusing on the scrutiny under which such representations repeatedly place the idea of "coherence", the attempt to find pattern, meaning and justice in the midst of tragic horror and destruction. In so doing, it aims to draw parallels between the drive towards revenge and the quest for coherence in tragedy, suggesting that an obsessive attempt to find satisfaction in order and symmetry is repeatedly found to be ethically questionable, as it can be both punitive and violent.


Background There is great interest to explore best models of collaborative cancer care, with specialists and Primary Care work together. In a study evaluating an electronic cancer ongoing record in primary care, the research team needed to display and overview a large amount of diverse data from clinical records, hospital letters and study interviews. Innovative techniques were required to understand the complexities of patient experiences involved. Aims To investigate the use of timelines to help display, overview and analyse a complex dataset in order to examine patients' experiences and the relationships between primary and secondary care. Methods General Practice case note reviews were carried out for 106 patients who had received a new diagnosis of cancer in the previous 12 months. Data concerning each patient was extracted into a form designed for the study. Timelines were created in Microsoft Visio, displaying cancer related consultations with clinicians in primary care (home visits, surgery consultations and phone calls) and secondary care (outpatient clinics, inpatient admissions, outpatient treatments). Results In addition to cancer related primary care appointments, all postdiagnosis primary care consultations were depicted, with additional annotations if co-morbidities were the main reason for consultation, to provide context. Relevant prediagnosis appointments, from initial presentation with symptoms, were included. The timelines were used to aid discussion in meetings of the project team and advisory group and in presentations of the study findings. Discussion The timelines provide a visualisation of patients' journeys that incorporated a diverse dataset from a range of sources, including case reviews and interview data. In some cases they highlighted the ways in which patients may recall consultations differently from health professionals' clinical records. Patient timelines are a useful technique to add to the health services research toolbox.


The arrival of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) marks a new era in science education. However, like all education reform, the success of NGSS implementation lies with teachers. Effective and targeted professional development will play a key role in preparing teachers who work from the framework. This study sought to design and validate a survey instrument measuring elementary teachers' perceptions of their understanding of the NGSS framework. After developing and modifying the initial item pool through expert review and piloting, the instrument was administered to 167 elementary teachers from Montana, Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming. Results from an exploratory principal components analysis yielded a five-factor model which explained 74% of the variance. Through Confirmatory Factor Analysis, the model was found to be an acceptable fit to the hypothesized population model. The 31-item instrument holds promise as a tool for informing professional development efforts related to teachers' understanding of NGSS concepts.


We propose a new approach for editing face images, which enables numerous exciting applications including face relighting, makeup transfer and face detail editing. Our face edits are based on a visual representation, which includes geometry, face segmentation, albedo, illumination and detail map. To recover our visual representation, we start by estimating geometry using a morphable face model, then decompose the face image to recover the albedo, and then shade the geometry with the albedo and illumination. The residual between our shaded geometry and the input image produces our detail map, which carries high frequency information that is either insufficiently or incorrectly captured by our shading process. By manipulating the detail map, we can edit face images with reality and identity preserved. Our representation allows various applications. First, it allows a user to directly manipulate various illumination. Second, it allows non-parametric makeup transfer with input face's distinctive identity features preserved. Third, it allows non-parametric modifications to the face appearance by transferring details. For face relighting and detail editing, we evaluate via a user study and our method outperforms other methods. For makeup transfer, we evaluate via an online attractiveness evaluation system, and can reliably make people look younger and more attractive. We also show extensive qualitative comparisons to existing methods, and have significant improvements over previous techniques.


To protect groundwater resources, bioaugmentation with microorganisms immobilized in solid carriers has been considered as a remediation strategy against environmental pollutants. While laboratory studies often demonstrated promising results, failures are common.
 One of the widely used herbicides of significant environmental concern is linuron, a member of athe phenylurea family. Biodegradation has been recognized to be the main route of removal of this compound from the environment, and usually occurs via toxic 3,4-dichloroaniline (3,4-DCA). Microbial consortia able to completely degrade linuron have been isolated over the last years, but a few single strains able to mineralize linuron are also available. It has often been suggested that isolated linuron-degraders or consortia would be good candidates for bioaugmentation purposes. In this study, the feasibility of using two-member microbial consortium embedded in solid carriers for soil bioaugmentation was evaluated by means of experiments and mathematical modeling.
 A mathematical model was developed to simulate consortial linuron mineralization in porous media. Within a 3-D model domain that simulates a variably saturated porous matrix, linuron was supposed to be homogeneously distributed, while the consortium was distributed in hot-spots resembling alginate beads commonly used for bioaugmentation. The population of linuron-degraders was assumed to excrete stoichiometric portions of 3,4-DCA, which was subsequently taken up by the 3,4-DCA-degrading population, complementing linuron mineralization. Microbial growth in the hotspots was assumed to follow Monod kinetics, while diffusion, including air-liquid phase partitioning, was the only transport process for both solutes. With the initial hypothesis that water governs mineralization through its control of the diffusion of linuron and its metabolite, the performance of the consortium with respect to linuron mineralization as affected by the distance between hot-spots and water saturation, was investigated.
 The model indicated that linuron degradation in the porous matrix was diffusion limited, regardless of the water saturation level. Mineralization time was affected by the water content, with shorter times associated with higher water saturation. The metabolic intermediate can diffuse relatively rapidly out of the hot-spots due to its volatility, potentially resulting in incomplete mineralization. However, diffusive properties of the metabolite did not affect mineralization significantly. Providing a dense distribution of hot-spots partly relieved diffusion limitations. In saturated conditions, spacing the hot-spots at a distance of 13 mm was required to obtain 90% linuron mineralization in less than 100 days. Under unsaturated conditions, the distance decreased to 5 mm. Water infiltration was an important factor affecting linuron mineralization, but did not alter considerably required hot-spot density. Possible difficulties with providing such dense bead distribution, question the value of using encapsulated cell formulations for soil bioaugmentation purposes. Possible solutions could rely on the use smaller beads, providing more dense distribution of mineralization potential.
 In the experimental part of this thesis, bacterial consortia were constructed and tested for mineralization activity towards linuron. Linuron-degrading Arthrobacter globiformis D47 was combined with 3,4-DCA-degrading strains, i.e. Variovorax sp. PBD-E5, Variovorax sp. PBD-E37 or Variovorax sp. PBD-H1. None of the consortial formulations introduced into liquid medium as free or immobilized cells was more efficient than monoculture of linuron-mineralizing strain Variovorax sp. SRS16. The reasons for the apparent encapsulation failures are discussed.
 The results of this study are of attention to those interested in the use of encapsulated microorganism for bioremediation purposes.


To develop a long-acting injectable huperzine A-PLGA microsphere for the chronic therapy of Alzheimer's disease, the microsphere was prepared by using an o/w emulsion solvent extraction evaporation method based on a series of formulation design of the emulsion. The dialysis method was used for release analysis. The encapsulation efficiency and release amount of the microspheres were determined by a UV/VIS spectrophotometer. The morphology of the microspheres was observed by scanning electron microscopy. The distribution of the drug within microspheres was observed by a confocal laser scanning microscope. The results indicated that the PLGA 15 000 microspheres possessed a smooth and round appearance with average particle size of 50 µm or so. The encapsulation percentages of microspheres prepared from PLGA 15 000, 20 000 and 30 000 were 62.75%, 27.52% and 16.63%, respectively. The drug release percentage during the first day decreased from 22.52% of PLGA 30 000 microspheres to 3.97% of PLGA 15 000 microspheres, the complete release could be prolonged to 3 weeks. The initial burst release of microspheres with higher molecular weight PLGA could be explained by the inhomogeneous distribution of drug within microspheres. The encapsulation efficiency of the microspheres improved as the polymer concentration increased in the oil phase and PVA concentration decreased in the aqueous phase. The burst release could be controlled by reducing the polymer concentration. Evaporation temperature had a large effect on the drug release profiles. It had better be controlled under 30°C. Within a certain range of particle size, encapsulation efficiency decreased and drug release rate increased with the reducing of the particle size.


BACKGROUND
Worldwide, the rate of aging is highest in Japan, especially the female population. To explore the trends for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in Japan, the MIYAGI-AMI Registry Study has been conducted for 30 years since 1979, whereby all AMI patients in the Miyagi prefecture are prospectively registered.

METHODS AND RESULTS
In 1979-2008, 22,551 AMI patients (male/female 16,238/6,313) were registered from 43 hospitals. The age-adjusted incidence of AMI (/100,000persons/year) increased from 7.4 in 1979 to 27.0 in 2008 (P<0.001). Although control of coronary risk factors remained insufficient, the rates of ambulance use and primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) have increased, and the overall in-hospital mortality (age-adjusted) has decreased from 20.0% in 1979 to 7.8% in 2008 (P<0.0001). However, the in-hospital mortality remains relatively higher in female than in male patients (12.2% vs 6.3% in 2008). Female patients were characterized by higher age and lower PCI rate.

CONCLUSIONS
The MIYAGI-AMI Registry Study demonstrates the steady trend of an increasing incidence, but decreasing mortality, for AMI in Japan over the past 30 years, although the female population still remains at higher risk for in-hospital death, despite improvements in the use of ambulances and primary PCI. (Circ J 2010; 74: 93 - 100).


Introduction: Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy (JME) is common idiopathic epilepsy manifested by myoclonic jerks that commonly noticed in early childhood without consciousness disturbance, then the generalised tonic – clonic overwhelms the scene, absence attacks are not uncommon. The prominent and cardinal EEG features of JME syndrome that supports the diagnosis is the generalized 3.5-6 Hz single, bifid and polyspikes slow-wave's complexes on normal brain background activity.
Aim: Aims were to evaluate the demographic features and to detect the most common clinical presentations among Sudanese patients with JME and explain the possible causes of diagnosis delaying.
Methods and patients: The study included all patients attended to National Ribat University – Faculty of Medicine and El-Magzoub Neurosciences centres whom their EEGs showed the characteristics features of JME (retrospectively). All the patients had been recruited (prospectively) and their EEGs have been repeated and clinical history and examination through pre-formed interview forms had bee done. The obtained data have been analysed using the SPSS and results were illustrated in by tables.
Results and discussion: The mean age of JME patients at diagnosis was 19.55 ± 8.98 years. Myoclonic jerks were confirmed in about 91% of the patients. Sleep deprivation was the triggering factor for MJs in 61.4% of the patients. Absence attacks were confirmed in 77.27% of JME patients, and generalised tonic-clonic seizures in 84.1% of patients with a mean age of onset 13.92 ± 5.65 years. The elapsed time between jerks and GTC was 4.35 ± 3.61 years.
Conclusion: MJs is common among Sudanese patients with JME and the sleep deprivation is the most frequent aggravating factors with the early awakening. Generalised tonic-clonic is common among JME patients and this great event may obscure MJs and confused the doctors to ask about them.


The importance of evaluating different impacts of the EU accession has not decreased in the last decade. Some of the problems, such as the problems of competitiveness and effectiveness of the agricultural sector, or the delay in transformation of the payment scheme are still unsolved. The continuous learning process has not ended by the accession; not only institutions but also individuals shall observe and learn the changes of the agricultural policy, which of course means a heavy task for farmers, besides the management of their farming activities. This paper wishes to examine how the agricultural enterprises in Visegrad countries could utilize advantages of the EU accession and what kind of problems has arisen during the accession process. These questions became more actual in present days, as a draft of the new CAP reform was announced in October 2011. Thus, the readiness of farmers will have a great importance in the future. Without knowing the new system, the opportunities cannot be utilized, and without taking these advantages we cannot speak about a competitive and effective agricultural sector.


This paper presented an regrasp planning method to eliminate grasp uncertainty while considering the geometric constraints of a fixture. The method automatically finds the Stable Placement Poses (SPPs) of an object on a Triangular Corner Fixture (TCF), elevates the object from its SPPs to dropping poses and finds the Deterministic Dropping Poses (DDPs), builds regrasp graphs by using the SPP-DDP pairs and their associated grasp configurations, and searches the graph to find regrasp motion sequences for precise assembly. Since the SPPs and their associated regrasps are constrained by the TCF's geometry and have high precision, the final object poses regrasped via it has low uncertainty and can be directly used for assembly by position control. In the experimental section, we study the performance of analytical and learning-based methods for estimating the DDPs of different objects and quantitatively examine the proposed method's ability to suppress uncertainty using assembly tasks like peg-in-hole insertion and sheathing tubes, aligning holes, mounting bearing housings, etc. The results demonstrate the method's robustness and efficacy.


This paper reports on the design, fabrication, and testing of an axial-flux permanent magnet electromagnetic generator. The generator comprises a polymer rotor with embedded permanent magnets sandwiched between two silicon stators with electroplated planar coils. Finite element simulations have been carried out using ANSYS to determine the effects on performance of design parameters such as the number of layers in the stator coils, and the rotor-stator gap. The effect of including soft magnetic pole pieces on the stators has also been studied. A prototype device with a diameter of 7.5 mm has been tested, and shown to deliver an output power of 1.1 mW per stator at a rotation speed of 30 000 rpm. The generator has been integrated with a microfabricated axial-flow microturbine to produce a compact power conversion device for power generation and flow sensing applications.


Fair work is now firmly on the political agenda in Scotland and there is ongoing debate about how best to drive it. After considering the policy context in which debates on fair work have emerged, and examining the Scottish approach to fair work, this article considers the role of public procurement as a lever of fair work. While not focussing in any depth on the procurement of lifeline ferry services, the arguments presented here are relevant to any competitive tendering process for these services. This article argues that recent statutory guidance illustrates the potential of procurement to support fair work due to the impact of fair work on the quality of service provision and its role in delivering economically advantageous outcomes. While there may be medium term changes to the procurement environment post-Brexit, devolution of responsibility for procurement means that scope to support fair work should remain in relatively calm waters, so long as there is political will to use procurement creatively for this important purpose.


—Ground-based aircraft trajectory prediction is a major concern in air traffic control and management. A safe and efficient prediction is a prerequisite to the implementation of new automated tools. In current operations, trajectory prediction is computed using a physical model. It models the forces acting on the aircraft to predict the successive points of the future trajectory. Using such a model requires knowledge of the aircraft state (mass) and aircraft intent (thrust law, speed intent). Most of this information is not available to ground-based systems. Focusing on the climb phase, we train neural networks to pre- dict some of the unknown point-mass model parameters. These unknown parameters are the mass and the speed intent. For each unknown parameter, our model predicts a Gaussian distribution. This predicted distribution is a predictive distribution: it is the distribution of possible unknown parameter values conditional to the observed past trajectory of the considered aircraft. Using this distribution, one can extract a predicted value and the uncertainty related to this specific prediction. Using a physical model like BADA, this distribution could be used to derive a probability distribution of possible future trajectory ([1]). This study relies on ADS-B data coming from The OpenSky Network. It contains the climbing segments of the year 2017 detected by this sensor network. The 11 most frequent aircraft types are studied. The obtained data set contains millions of climbing segments from all over the world. Using this data, we show that despite having an RMSE slightly larger than previously tested methods, the predicted uncertainty allows us to reduce the size of prediction intervals while keeping the same coverage probability. Furthermore, we show that the trajectories with a similar predicted uncertainty have an observed RMSE close to the predicted one. The data set and the machine learning code are publicly available.


In the last 15 years, the trend of NGOs working in cooperation with business has developed considerably. The global community – including leaders of international governmental institutions and of the non-profit sector as well as some business leaders – has recognized the importance of including business in the process of international development. NGOs, on the other hand, have become instrumental in development work internationally, but they generally do not have the means and resources to carry out their projects efficiently in a sustainable manner. This is why engaging business with the public and non-profit sectors to find common solutions to problems has been an increasing trend globally. The first section of this paper analyzes the general trend of increasing interaction between the public and the private sector. It outlines some of the benefits of partnerships to both corporations and NGOs, the practical difficulties they present, and the elements necessary to establishing a healthy collaboration between both actors. The second section illustrates the potential of such partnerships by looking at their effectiveness in the fair or ethical trade movement. Partnerships in fair trade seek to address both the economic and social/environmental aspects of sustainable development, so they present benefits and challenges simultaneously. We shall use a case study from the coffee industry, to analyze how a large corporation such as Starbucks works successfully with NGOs to promote sustainable and fair coffee production practices. Finally, we shall discuss the success of partnerships, drawing conclusions from the analysis of the case study.


Granulosa cell tumors (GCT) are rare ovarian malignancies. Due to the lack of effective treatment in late relapse, there is a clear unmet need for novel therapies. Forkhead Box L2 (FOXL2) is a protein mainly expressed in granulosa cells (GC) and therefore is a rational therapeutic target. Since we identified tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) as the main immune population within GCT, TILs from 11 GCT patients were expanded, and their phenotypes were interrogated to determine that T cells acquired late antigen-experienced phenotypes and lower levels of PD1 expression. Importantly, TILs maintained their functionality after ex vivo expansion as they vigorously reacted against autologous tumors (100% of patients) and against FOXL2 peptides (57.1% of patients). To validate the relevance of FOXL2 as a target for immune therapy, we developed a plasmid DNA vaccine (FoxL2–tetanus toxin; FoxL2-TT) by fusing Foxl2 cDNA with the immune-enhancing domain of TT. Mice immunization with FoxL2-TT controlled growth of FOXL2-expressing ovarian (BR5) and breast (4T1) cancers in a T cell–mediated manner. Combination of anti–PD-L1 with FoxL2-TT vaccination further reduced tumor progression and improved mouse survival without affecting the female reproductive system and pregnancy. Together, our results suggest that FOXL2 immune targeting can produce substantial long-term clinical benefits. Our study can serve as a foundation for trials testing immunotherapeutic approaches in patients with ovarian GCT.


The following research is an explorative study on 'architectural analysis' as a means of thinking and designing architecture. It is a space of dissection, observation and representation to establish (new) relationships creating elements that discuss, deepen and extend the ideas. An analytical exercise on the works of selected architects - Villa Savoye ( Le Corbusier), Neue Staatsgalerie (James Stirling) and Educatorium ( OMA/Rem Koolhaas) - to analyze the simplest, yet unknown and inevitable fundamentals of architecture: space, its perception and organization. Questions, ambitions, ideas and possibilities are analyzed architecturally; elements are organized differently and new relationships are established. This is an act of critical thinking that allows questioning of the orthodox regulations.

The resulting analysis revealed promenade architecturale as the common compositional tool in spatial arrangement of all three buildings. Subsequently, the discovery lead to a connection between promenade architecturale and 'theatricality'.

Additionally, two public squares - Piazza Del Campo (Sienna, Italy) and Schouwburgplein (Rotterdam, Netherlands) – are analysed as the precedents for Aotea Square, along with Palais Garnier, a typological precedent for the proposed opera house.

Eventually, 'architectural analysis' was delved into and developed, to study, examine and extend strategies to compose and organize complex spaces of a new type of performance art centre, called 'Performatorium', in the contemporary urban context of New Zealand. Performatorium incorporates spaces, resources and facilities required for production, representation and preservation of performance art, especially opera, to form a center of gravity for Aotea Square and Aotea Quarter as the cultural nucleus of Auckland. Project area: Junction of Mayoral Drive, Federal Street, Cook Street and Vincent Street to the surface of Aotea Square.


Oil and Gas operations require the maintenance of large inventory of spares, equipment and materials all referred to in this work as assets. The differences in the arrival time and the fact that the receiving personnel may be different from the personnel that ordered the items and also different from the personnel that may eventually check out the items from the warehouse makes it necessary to have an automated system for monitoring the inventory. The large number of inventories maintained by the oil and gas process and the multiplicity of teams increases the risk of loss of items due to unauthorized release of items from the warehouse and the challenges of managing inventory movement. This system presents the development of an RFID based real-time inventory tracking system which makes it mandatory for the suppliers to embed all supplied items with RFID Tags. The warehouse is to have RFID readers installed in each section and also at all entrance and exit points. The system logs personnel access and movement within the warehouse and it is also able to track items wrongly placed in the warehouse. It monitors the entire asset and reports the movement of each asset to the team leads and Managers of the team that made the item procurement. The system maintains a database of all items in the warehouse and is capable of generating reports of the entire inventory and their history. The system also integrates a reader at the main exist gates of the premises. For an item to exit the company premises, the supervising manager will be required to give a final approval by email to enable the item exit the company premises. This system will minimize the risks associated with illegal removal of items from the warehouse as the movement of the items is tracked in real-time, the access control monitors the staff access into the warehouse and matches it with the item movement out of the warehouse. Managers are aware of the item's movement from the warehouse and in the event of item leaving the warehouse without authorization and without any record of its exit being approved by the required manager, a watch list is created at the security post to check for such items in the event that the RFID tags have been removed. This system will enable a more robust asset management process for oil and gas inventories and minimize the risks associated with unauthorized removal of inventory from the warehouse


The characteristics of drug addiction include compulsive drug use despite negative consequences and re-occurring relapses, returns to drug use after a period of abstinence. Therefore, relapse prevention is one of the major challenges for the treatment of drug addiction. There are three main factors capable of inducing craving for drugs and triggering relapse long after cessation of drug use and dissipation of physical withdrawal signs: stress, re-exposure to the drug, and environmental stimuli (cues) that have been previously associated with drug use. The neurotransmitters dopamine and glutamate have been implicated in the modulation of drug-seeking behavior. The aim of this project was to examine the role of glutamatergic neurotransmission in relapse triggered by conditioned drug-associated stimuli. The focus was on clarifying whether relapse to drug seeking can be attenuated by blockade of glutamate receptors. In addition, as the nucleus accumbens has been proposed to participate in the modulation of drug-seeking behavior, the effects of glutamate receptor blockade in this brain structure on cue-induced relapse were investigated. The studies employed animals models in which rats were trained to press a lever in a test cage to obtain alcohol or intravenous cocaine. Drug availability was paired with distinct olfactory, auditory, or visual stimuli. This phase was followed by extinction training, during which lever presses did not result in the presentation of the drug or the drugassociated stimuli. Extinction training led to a gradual decrease in the number of lever presses during test sessions. Relapse was triggered by presenting the rats with the drugassociated stimuli in the absence of alcohol or cocaine. The drug-associated stimuli were alone capable of inducing resumption of lever pressing and maintaining this behavior during repeated testing. The number of lever presses during a session represented the intensity of drug-seeking and relapse behavior. The results suggest that glutamatergic neurotransmission is involved in the modulation of drug-seeking behavior. Both alcohol and cocaine relapse were attenuated by systemic pretreatment with glutamate receptor antagonists. However, differences were found in the ability of ionotropic AMPA/kainate and NMDA receptor antagonists to regulate drug-seeking behavior. The AMPA/kainate antagonists CNQX and NBQX, and L-701,324, an antagonist with affinity for the glycine site of the NMDA receptor, attenuated cue-induced drug seeking, whereas the competitive NMDA antagonist CGP39551 and the NMDA channel blocker MK-801 were without effect. MPEP, an antagonist at metabotropic mGlu5 glutamate receptors, also decreased drug seeking, but its administration was found to lead to conditioned suppression of behavior during subsequent treatment sessions, suggesting that MPEP may have undesirable side effects. The mGluR2/3 agonist LY379268 and the mGluR8 agonist (S)-3,4-DCPG decreased both cue-induced relapse to alcohol drinking and alcohol consumption. Control experiments showed however that administration of the agonists was accompanied by motor suppression limiting their usefulness. Administration of the AMPA/kainate antagonist CNQX, the NMDA antagonist D-AP5, and the mGluR5 antagonist MPEP into the nucleus accumbens resulted also in a decrease in drug-seeking behavior, suggesting that the nucleus accumbens is at least one of the anatomical sites regulating drug seeking and mediating the effects of glutamate receptor antagonists on this behavior.


Experimental innovations starting in the 1990's leading to the advent of high-throughput experiments in cellular biology have made it possible to measure thousands of genes simultaneously at a modest cost. This enables the discovery of new unexpected relationships between genes in addition to the possibility of falsify existing. To benefit as much as possible from these experiments the new inter disciplinary research field of systems biology have materialized. Systems biology goes beyond the conventional reductionist approach and aims at learning the whole system under the assumption that the system is greater than the sum of its parts. One emerging enterprise in systems biology is to use the high-throughput data to reverse engineer the web of gene regulatory interactions governing the cellular dynamics. This relatively new endeavor goes further than clustering genes with similar expression patterns and requires the separation of cause of gene expression from the effect. Despite the rapid data increase we then face the problem of having too few experiments to determine which regulations are active as the number of putative interactions has increased dramatic as the number of units in the system has increased. One possibility to overcome this problem is to impose more biologically motivated constraints. However, what is a biological fact or not is often not obvious and may be condition dependent. Moreover, investigations have suggested several statistical facts about gene regulatory networks, which motivate the development of new reverse engineering algorithms, relying on different model assumptions. As a result numerous new reverse engineering algorithms for gene regulatory networks has been proposed. As a consequent, there has grown an interest in the community to assess the performance of different attempts in fair trials on "real" biological problems. This resulted in the annually held DREAM conference which contains computational challenges that can be solved by the prosing researchers directly, and are evaluated by the chairs of the conference after the submission deadline. This thesis contains the evolution of regularization schemes to reverse engineer gene networks from high-throughput data within the framework of ordinary differential equations. Furthermore, to understand gene networks a substantial part of it also concerns statistical analysis of gene networks. First, we reverse engineer a genome-wide regulatory network based solely on microarray data utilizing an extremely simple strategy assuming sparseness (LASSO). To validate and analyze this network we also develop some statistical tools. Then we present a refinement of the initial strategy which is the algorithm for which we achieved best performer at the DREAM2 conference. This strategy is further refined into a reverse engineering scheme which also can include external high-throughput data, which we confirm to be of relevance as we achieved best performer in the DREAM3 conference as well. Finally, the tools we developed to analyze stability and flexibility in linearized ordinary differential equations representing gene regulatory networks is further discussed.


The Brazilian Archipelago of Fernando de Noronha lies off Cape Sao Roque, State of Rio Grande do Norte, about 195 nautical miles offshore. Only a few faunistic lists of this tropical archipelago have been published, and only four species of Gastropoda Opisthobranchia were cited. In this paper two species of Opisthobranchia Nudibranchia are recorded from this Archipelago. Dendrodoris senegalensis Bouchet 1975, known from Cape Verde and Senegal, amplifies its extension range toward the Western Atlantic. The brazilian specimens differ from the African specimens, in the presence of a completely white branchial tuft. Phidiana riosi sp nov clearly differs from other co-generic species in its colour pattern, having a red ground colour, with numerous white spots scattered on the dorsum. The rhinophores are orange and the cerata white with the cnidosac orange. Internally, this species has jaws with a single row of denticles, and the radular teeth have a central cusp with 7-8 denticles each side. The penis is armed with a black spine and the seminal receptacle connects with two independent ducts, the oviduct and the vaginal duct. Both species are compared with other similar taxa.


Magnesium-aluminium-zinc alloy (Mg alloy AZ31) is among the five general classes of wrought alloys that are strengthened by annealing. This paper will highlight the possibilities of manipulating the mechanical properties of Mg alloy AZ31 through rolling and annealing and present the material as a potential candidate for both structural and sub-structural application in passenger cars and light-trucks. Further, an overview of recent developments in efforts towards light weighting of automobile in relation to fuel consumption efficiency and pollutant gas will be presented. The findings of this research will assist automobile design engineers in optimizing the weight of automobile through replacement of steel and some aluminium components with magnesium alloy AZ31 of equivalent strength and stiffness.


SCD is a model for chronic and diffuse vasculopathy resulting in tissue infarction and ischemia-reperfusion injury. Much attention has been placed on diffuse endothelial disease in SCD. More recently, diastolic heart failure has been recognized as a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the general population and more specifically in SCD patients. However, there has been a paucity of work aimed at understanding the mechanism underlying cardiac enlargement and diastolic dysfunction, and how they are related to mortality in this disease population. Recent evidence from this same group, using the BerkSS mouse model, suggests myocardial fibrosis results in a restrictive cardiomyopathic process. Niss and colleagues use cardiac T1 mapping, a noninvasive measure of myocardial fibrosis, to demonstrate that myocardial fibrosis is associated with diastolic dysfunction, an important first step and consistent with their prior animal studies. This also gives researchers and clinicians the ability to assess and longitudinally track myocardial fibrosis, test mechanistic hypotheses about myocardial fibrosis, and develop treatments aimed at slowing or reversing its development. Diastolic heart function has both active and passive components. The myosin-actin interaction during relaxation is an active process and myocyte-fibrous tissue interaction accounts for the passive relaxation process. Cardiac T1 mapping is a technique by which measurements of extracellular volume fraction (ECV), using gadolinium-based magnetic resonance contrast agents, have been linked to myocardial fibrosis. Measurements of cardiac ECV are used for disease tracking and prognosis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sarcoidosis, and, more recently, heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction, a model of heart failure that has been ascribed to SCD. Similar to these other myopathic processes, the development of myocardial fibrosis in this patient population is likely chronic and thus important to recognize because improved survival is unmasking chronic disease that burdens patients as they age. This study found an effect of age on the relationship between ECV and tricuspid regurgitant jet velocity. Are the development of pulmonary hypertension and diastolic dysfunction concordant and, if so, what drives this process? SCD stems from a single point mutation that leads to the formation of hemoglobin S, which polymerizes upon deoxygenation and leads to decreased erythrocyte deformability. How does this fundamental change in the erythrocyte lead to the development of myocardial fibrosis? Decreased erythrocyte deformability and increased erythrocyteendothelial adhesion create the substrate for microvascular occlusion and tissue ischemiareperfusion injury. Chronic hemolysis releases free hemoglobin and arginase, both ofwhich act to decrease nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability and increase redox stress. Intravascular hemolysis and microvascular occlusion also lead to innate immune system activation and chronic inflammation. All of these biochemical, molecular, and cellular changes funnel into end-organ ultrastructural changes and endorgan dysfunction. Which, if any, of these abnormalities leads to myocardial fibrosis and restrictive cardiomyopathy in SCD (see figure panel A)? Work in the preclinical Berk-SS mouse model, by this same group, found myocardial fibrosis was increased, and not solely due to anemia and hypoxia. Anemia acts in combination with cardiac chamber enlargement, microvascular occlusion, ischemia, and oxidative stress, leading to myocardial fibrosis. Furthermore, there are signature changes in the myocardial transcriptome consistent with abnormal regulation of oxidative stress, extracellular matrix formation, angiogenesis, lipid metabolism, and neurotransmission. SCN4A, SCN4B, and KCNJ2, which are genes associated with long-QT syndrome and sudden death, were significantly downregulated. Ion-channel dysregulation is consistent with their mouse clinical data, demonstrating prolongation of the corrected QT interval and fatal arrhythmias, an important link between myocardial fibrosis and channelopathies directly related to sudden cardiac death. Sudden death is a significant problem in adult patients with SCD, but the etiology is unknown and likely multifactorial. Chronic fibrotic change in both the conduction system and smaller coronary arteries was found in an autopsy specimen from a patient with SCD who died suddenly. Could ECV and diastolic dysfunction found in this study be related to fibrotic changes found in this autopsy specimen? Niss and colleagues found that ECV and diastolic dysfunction were both associated with severity of anemia and cardiac chamber size, which is consistent with the Berk-SS mouse model. However, neither the "number of painful events" nor acute chest episodes were associated with ECV or diastolic dysfunction, both of which are thought to be associated with microvascular occlusion. Although this raises more questions about etiology and pathophysiology, this is an important first step toward characterizing and better understanding diastolic dysfunction and the reason it is an independent risk factor for mortality. Figure 2 of the article by Niss et al (see figure panel B) is an important and sobering graphic. The ECV quantification in SCD patients is surpassed only by measurements at the site of myocardial infarction (MI) in patients who have suffered acute MI. There are important clinical aspects related to T1 mapping in this population. Myocardial iron deposition affects T1 relaxation measurements by lowering native T1 relaxation time, which may lead to an underestimation of myocardial fibrosis. Myocardial iron deposition is rare in SCD, even in chronically transfused patients. Use of gadolinium-based contrast agents has generally been avoided in SCD patients due to preexisting renal dysfunction in


During periods of strong environmental change, some areas may serve as refugia, where components of biodiversity can find protection, persist and potentially expand from should conditions again become favourable. The refugia concept has previously been used in the context of climatic change, to describe climatically stable areas in which taxa survived past Quaternary glacial-interglacial oscillations, or where they might persist in the future under anthropogenic climate change. However, with the recognition that Earth has entered the Anthropocene, an era in which human activities are the dominant driving force on ecosystems, it is critical to also consider human pressures on the environment as factors limiting species distributions. Here, we present a novel concept, Anthropocene refugia, to refer to areas that provide spatial and temporal protection from human activities and that will remain suitable for a given taxonomic unit in the long-term. It integrates a deep-time perspective on species biogeography that provides information on the natural rather than current-day relictual distribution of species, with spatial information on modern and future anthropogenic threats. We define the concept and propose a methodology to effectively identify and map realised and potential current and future refugia, using examples for two megafauna species as a proof of concept. We argue that identifying Anthropocene refugia will improve biodiversity conservation and restoration by allowing better prediction of key areas for conservation and potential for re-expansions today and in the future. More generally, it forms a new conceptual framework to assess and manage the impact of anthropogenic activities on past, current and future patterns of species distributions.


JISC Collections, together with Professor Carol Tenopir from the Center for Information and Communication Studies at the University of Tennessee, has carried out research to measure the value and outcomes from access to scholarly publications by academics. Presented in the UK Scholarly Reading and the Value of Library Resources report, the research examines how valuable scholarly reading has become for academics, especially in terms of access to journal articles. It surveyed academic and associate staff at 6 UK Higher Education institutions in 2011 exploring how academic library collections support research and teaching activities and how reading patterns of articles, books, and other materials differ. The research also examined what academics would do if library resources were not available. The findings suggest that without the library, academics and their departments would not find articles of such quality, that they would find fewer related articles, and that it would be a significantly more costly and time-consuming process. Image: rachel_titiriga / flickr


The time-travelling political scientist stepping out of her time machine today, having started her journey even 5 years earlier, would be amazed and, no doubt, shocked by the world in which she found herself. What sense, if any, might she make of British politics after the vote for Brexit – and, indeed, of the politics which gave rise to it? And what does the answer to that question tell us about how the vote for Brexit happened, how it was allowed to happen, its wider implications (both political and economic) and the seismic changes in and through which British politics is currently being remade? In an inevitably prospective and necessarily provisional way, I seek to reflect on the paradoxes of populism and neoliberal globalism that Brexit reveals as a way of drawing out a few of its implications for the conduct of British political analysis in a world in which Brexit could happen yet was essentially unforeseen.


Off-policy evaluation (OPE) is to evaluate a target policy with data generated by other policies. Most previous OPE methods focus on precisely estimating the true performance of a policy. We observe that in many applications, (1) the end goal of OPE is to compare two or multiple candidate policies and choose a good one, which is a much simpler task than precisely evaluating their true performance; and (2) there are usually multiple policies that have been deployed to serve users in real-world systems and thus the true performance of these policies can be known. Inspired by the two observations, in this work, we study a new problem, supervised off-policy ranking (SOPR), which aims to rank a set of target policies based on supervised learning by leveraging off-policy data and policies with known performance. We propose a method to solve SOPR, which learns a policy scoring model by minimizing a ranking loss of the training policies rather than estimating the precise policy performance. The scoring model in our method, a hierarchical Transformer based model, maps a set of state-action pairs to a score, where the state of each pair comes from the off-policy data and the action is taken by a target policy on the state in an offline manner. Extensive experiments on public datasets show that our method outperforms baseline methods in terms of rank correlation, regret value, and stability. Our code is publicly available at GitHub.


Basketball is, theoretically, a no-contact game, but it has been established that personal contact cannot be avoided entirely when 10 players are moving with great speed over a limited space. Due to this obvious contact, high tempers and friction, so many injuries have occurred during games, which have led to loss of playing time as well as physical and psychological consequences. This study investigated the aetiology and time course of the injuries in both male and female basketball players during the first phase of the 1997National Basketball Classic League, in order to detect a substantial typology of sports injuries and offer special programmes for their prevention. Results indicated that the main aetiological factors were the opponent, the floor and type of shoes. Most of the injuries occurred during pressure defences and inside plays. No major difference was found in the pattern of injuries between the male and female players. Based on results of this study, it will seem that the number and severity of injuries in basketball could be minimised, if the rules and mechanics of officiating pressure defences, charged/ block and inside-plays are amended.


Introduction: There is paucity of data regarding C reactive protein/Albumin (CRP/Alb) ratio in patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection. We aimed to evaluate the significance of CRP/Alb ratio in COVID-19 patients. Methodology: Patients hospitalized between March – April 2020 with COVID-19, who had CRP and Albumin levels documented within 24 hours from admission were retrospectively analyzed. Unpaired Student's t-test was used for continuous and Pearson Chi-square (χ2) test for categorical variables. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were developed to assess the relationship between CRP/Alb and mortality. Nonparametric correlations were calculated using Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient. Results: 75 patients were included. Mean age was 62.92, 26 females (34.67%) and 49 males (65.33%), mean Body Mass Index (BMI) 29.86, mean body temperature 101.3 and mean length of stay (LOS) was 14.80 days. 24 (32%) patients required invasive mechanical ventilation and 51 (68%) did not, mean CRP/Alb ratio was 6.89 and 4.7 respectively (p = 0.036). 15 (20%) patients died, 60 (80%) survived and the mean CRP/Alb difference between these groups was also statistically significant (7.74 vs 4.83, p = 0.02). LOS (OR 0.71, 95% CI 0.57.-0.88, p < 0.001) and BUN (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.01.-1.07, p = 0.006) were independent predictors of mortality by multivariate logistic regression, whereas CRP/Alb (OR 1.21, 95% CI 0.96.-1.51, p = 0.06) was not. Conclusions: CRP/Alb ratio could be useful as a prognostic indicator of disease severity in COVID-19, but we could not corroborate its potential to predict mortality. The work was conducted at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons at Harlem Hospital.


Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has been shown to have high sensitivity for detecting intracranial pathology. A study was devised to determine what information about tissue characteristics can be derived from steady-state free-precession NMR images alone and when compared with computed tomographic (CT) scans. The flow-dependent sequences allow diagnosis of intrinsic vascular lesions. Whereas precise characterization of some pathologic groups such as fat-containing tumors is possible, other important groups cannot be clearly differentiated. Preliminary findings suggest that it may be possible to predict the texture of extrinsic tumors from their NMR signals.


Professor Roux is a pioneer in the field of interreligious, intercultural and human rights education. This article will focus on her contribution to understanding diversity in humankind and to enhancing inclusivity. An overview of her work demonstrates that she envisioned an understanding of diversity through education. She identified human rights values as common denominators within cultural and religious spaces of fear and resistance. She also focused on interreligious and intercultural dialogue in education as a means to enhance empathetic and caring interactions with others. In recent years, Roux has initiated three projects: The first was titled Understanding Human Rights through Different Belief Systems: Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue (2005 - 2008). A follow-up project, Human Rights Education in Diversity: Empowering Girls in Rural and Metropolitan School Environments (2010-2013), focused on gender equity and social justice as priorities to facilitate an understanding of diversity (Roux 2012). An awareness of the importance of human rights literacy and human rights education in creating a sustainable environment for human rights and understanding within a multi-religious and multi-cultural society lead to the development of a third project titled Human Rights Literacy: A Quest for Meaning (Roux & Du Preez 2013). Drawing on Bauman's (1994) conceptualisation of moral responsibility and relations of proximity and distance, our article uses data from this latest project to demonstrate how human rights literacy could facilitate moving towards understanding one another. Qualitative comments from participants, which were probed during the focus group discussions, seem to indicate that freedom of choice and association are often used to mask exclusion and protect spaces of sameness and distance. Some students' quest to move to understanding the other and in being responsible for the other, was illustrated by their description of the consequences of finding comfort in rights and the security of codes of conduct. Keywords : human rights, diversity, difference, inclusivity, culture, religion, interreligious and intercultural dialogue, meaning, understanding, self and other


A prospective study was performed to evaluate the changes in the auditory brain stem response (ABR) that occur in healthy premenopausal women throughout the menstrual cycle. Ninety-four women with ovulatory menstrual cycles underwent ABR testing by auditory evoked potentials for wave I, III, and V latencies and for interpeak I-III, I-V, and III-V intervals during the follicular, periovular, and luteal phases of the menstrual cycle. The wave latencies and the interpeak intervals showed shorter values during the periovular phase than during the luteal phase (p < .05) and shorter values during the follicular phase for wave I (p < .05) and interpeak interval I-V (p < .05). The ABR seems to be influenced by the variations of ovarian steroids that occur during the menstrual cycle.


Background: Increased oxygen free radical and reduced glutathione level in the eye lens are important risk factor for cataract formation. The antioxidative property and increasing cellular and extra cellular glutathione level have been reported by several herbal medicines including silymarin. Objective: In present interventional study Silybum marianum L. seed extract (silymarin) was tested against galactose-induced cataract development in rats. Methods: Thirty male 45 days old wistar rats (150 – 200 g), were divided in three groups of 10 rats each. Cataract was induced in two groups of rats following feeding them with 30% galactose diet for 40 days. One group kept as control and silymarin in the dose of 200 mg/kg/d was administered orally (mixed with galactose diet) to other group for 40 days. Cataract development in the rats lens was observed daily by ophthalmoscope and naked eye during the study. The glutathione (GSH) and lipid peroxides (LPO) levels were determined after 20 days in all rats left eye lens. Results: The results indicated that, in silymarin treated group all stage of cataract development were significantly delayed as compared to control group. In rats treated with silymarin the lens GSH level was increased significantly (p<0.01) and LPO levels was decreased significantly as compared to control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Administration of silymarin to galactose fed rats showed beneficial effect on prevention of cataract development as well as antioxidative defence system such as increase in lens GSH and decrease LPO levels.


Large eddy simulation (LES) and Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) calculations have been performed of the turbulent flow over a smoothly contoured ramp. The upstream conditions are obtained from a separate pre-computation of a flat-plate turbulent boundary layer. The flow in the primary calculation develops downstream, first experiencing an increase in the surface skin friction due to ramp curvature, then exhibiting a shallow separation with subsequent reattachment on a flat section downstream. The LES results provide a baseline for investigation of the flow and enable assessment of the RANS models, the specific closures applied being the Spalart–Allmaras one-equation model v 2−f, and a modified version of v 2−f. The wall layer is resolved in all of the calculations, the Reynolds number based on the boundary layer thickness at the inlet plane is 10 400. LES results show that the separation process is intermittent and exhibits a transition of turbulence structures, features that are challenging for the turbulence closures to model adequately. LES mean velocities return to the log law at about four ramp lengths downstream of the beginning of the curved section, whereas the turbulence quantities recover more slowly. The effect of separation is to increase the turbulence intensity away from the wall and decrease it in the vicinity of the wall. The recovery of the inner layer takes place through a rapid rebound process while that of the outer layer through a slow decay process. Both occur in a monotonic fashion. The steady RANS predictions upstream of separation for all the models are similar, with differences observed within and downstream of the separated region. RANS predictions of the skin friction following separation show a relatively slower recovery to the LES results. Spalart–Allmaras gives the closest agreement to LES on the size of the separation bubble. Downstream of separation, v 2−f yields a better agreement with LES than does its modified version, which exhibits a delayed reattachment and slower recovery. For the turbulence quantities, v 2−f yields a better agreement with LES than the other models. All the RANS models, however, fail to completely follow the dynamics of the inner layer in the rebound process revealed by LES.


Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is an inherited disorder distinguished by kidney cyst growth and a corresponding decline in renal function. With minimal treatment options available, often times PKD progresses to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and eventually, end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a complete loss of kidney function. The Consortium for Radiologic Imaging Studies of Polycystic Kidney Disease (CRISP) is a longitudinal cohort study that has been studying participants with PKD since 2001, including analysis of imaging and biomarker data. CRISP studies have characterized renal cyst growth, as well as important prognostic biomarkers for CKD. Identifying PKD patients at greatest risk for developing ESRD can help design future studies.

In this study, survival methods, including decision trees, were applied to baseline CRISP data to determine which characteristics were associated with ESRD-free survival. Results of Cox proportional hazard, survival tree, and random survival forests models showed that height-adjusted total kidney volume (htTKV), total kidney cyst volume (TCV), and glomular filtration rate (GFR) had the strongest association with ESRD-free survival.

Public health significance: Determination of which characteristics are associated with ESRD-free survival can inform preventative treatments and programs for PKD patients and give better insight to medical professionals.


This paper presents the development and evaluation of EnnerSpectrum, a platform for electricity monitoring. The development was motivated by a gap between academic, fully custom-made monitoring solutions and commercial proprietary monitoring approaches. EnnerSpectrum is composed of two main entities, the back end, and the Gateway. The back end is a server comprised of flexible entities that can be configured to different monitoring scenarios. The Gateway interacts with equipment at a site that cannot interact directly with the back end. The paper presents the architecture and configuration of EnnerSpectrum for a long-term case study with 13 prosumers of electricity for approximately 36 months. During this period, the proposed system was able to adapt to several building and monitoring conditions while acquiring 95% of all the available consumption data. To finalize, the paper presents a set of lessons learned from running such a long-term study in the real world.


Web search queries for which there are no clicks are referred to as abandoned queries and are usually considered as leading to user dissatisfaction. However, there are many cases where a user may not click on any search result page (SERP) but still be satisfied. This scenario is referred to as good abandonment and presents a challenge for most approaches measuring search satisfaction, which are usually based on clicks and dwell time. The problem is exacerbated further on mobile devices where search providers try to increase the likelihood of users being satisfied directly by the SERP. This paper proposes a solution to this problem using gesture interactions, such as reading times and touch actions, as signals for differentiating between good and bad abandonment. These signals go beyond clicks and characterize user behavior in cases where clicks are not needed to achieve satisfaction. We study different good abandonment scenarios and investigate the different elements on a SERP that may lead to good abandonment. We also present an analysis of the correlation between user gesture features and satisfaction. Finally, we use this analysis to build models to automatically identify good abandonment in mobile search achieving an accuracy of 75%, which is significantly better than considering query and session signals alone. Our findings have implications for the study and application of user satisfaction in search systems.


We address the problem of 3D object detection from 2D monocular images in autonomous driving scenarios. We propose to lift the 2D images to 3D representations using learned neural networks and leverage existing networks working directly on 3D data to perform 3D object detection and localization. We show that, with carefully designed training mechanism and automatically selected minimally noisy data, such a method is not only feasible, but gives higher results than many methods working on actual 3D inputs acquired from physical sensors. On the challenging KITTI benchmark, we show that our 2D to 3D lifted method outperforms many recent competitive 3D networks while significantly outperforming previous state-of-the-art for 3D detection from monocular images. We also show that a late fusion of the output of the network trained on generated 3D images, with that trained on real 3D images, improves performance. We find the results very interesting and argue that such a method could serve as a highly reliable backup in case of malfunction of expensive 3D sensors, if not potentially making them redundant, at least in the case of low human injury risk autonomous navigation scenarios like warehouse automation.


Compounds with cage-like structures of elemental silicon and carbon are comparatively reviewed. Barium containing silicon clathrate compounds isomorphous with type I gas hydrates were prepared using high pressure and high temperature (HPHT) conditions, and found to become superconductors. The application of HPHT conditions to Zintl binary silicides have produced a number of silicon-rich cage-like structures including new clathrate structures; most of them are superconductors. Carbon analogs of silicon clathrates can be prepared by 3D polymerization of C(60) under HPHT conditions, which are new allotropes of carbon with expanded framework structures. The crystal chemistry and characteristic properties of some related compounds are also reviewed.


This paper will explore the methods and techniques necessary to perform a more accurate CFD validation of experimental results. The methods and techniques used will be validated against experimental wind tunnel data of a 2D high lift airfoil with a 3D engine performed by Georgia Tech Research Institute. Preliminary results showed that computational methods over predict the lift and drag coefficient, while still showing very similar trends in CL and CD. To further improve the preliminary results and the predictive capabilities, different turbulence models will be investigated. Results of this validation will assist in determining the appropriate turbulence models, boundary conditions, mesh characteristics and other CFD modeling techniques necessary to capture complicated flow physics associated with the coupling of circulation control wings and engine exhaust flows.


Stable isotope studies of human remains from the Late Neolithic of modern Switzerland are currently absent from data sets of Central Europe. This changed with the discovery of the Dolmen from Oberbipp, which forms the basis of a project to reconstruct nutrition and mobility during the Late Neolithic using stable isotopes (13C/12C, 15N/14N, and 34S/32S) as well as occupation time, kinship and populationgenetics. This paper is aimed to evaluate diet with regard to sex, geographical regions, and chronological phases.
In total, 114 human skeletons from 20 different sites (Switzerland, France, and Germany) were sampled. All samples were radiocarbon dated and date from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. In addition, 67 contemporary faunal remains were sampled. Collagen was extracted and its quality was assessed.
All faunal remains and 91 human samples from 14 sites provided sufficient collagen quality for subsequent statistical analyses. The data show expected trophic levels for δ13C and δ15N. The human samples show little variation for δ13C between sites, while δ15N and δ34S show greater variability. No differences between the sexes regarding all three elements are observed. However, little distinction between the chronological phases are recorded.
The small variability for δ34S across the animals is indicative for a local signal and therefore suitable as baseline for the human samples. The δ13C values indicate a C3 plant based diet across all sites, which is consistence with other contemporary sites from Central Europe. The variability of δ15N seems to be related to the site rather than being indicative for the social status. The sulphur values do not support the hypothesis of either patrilocal or matrilocal societies. However, the females have a larger distribution than the males, which could be an indication towards higher female migration.


Background
iConnect, funded by EPSRC, is an interdisciplinary research programme, aiming to measure and evaluate changes in travel, physical activity and carbon emissions associated with the Sustrans' Connect2 programme. Until recently, the categorisation of behaviour change techniques (BCTs) has been problematic due a failure to standardise the vocabulary used across intervention programmes. This has restricted the potential for understanding how intervention content is related to the efficacy of an intervention and this is an important consideration for the Connect2 programme. This research attempts to address this gap in the evidence base for the design of interventions to promote walking and cycling in the UK.

Aims
Adopting a recently developed twenty-six item taxonomy of behaviour change techniques, this systematic review categorised the BCTs incorporated into the content of interventions designed to promote walking and cycling; with the aim of identifying which techniques were associated with effectiveness, to help guide the development of future walking and cycling interventions.

Methods
A systematic review of controlled interventions that reported a significant change in walking and cycling were obtained from eight electronic databases. Study design features, context, methodology and outcomes were extracted. Intervention content was independently extracted and categorised according to a validated twenty six item taxonomy of BCTs.

Results
Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Overall study quality was fair. Intervention content varied greatly in terms of vocabulary and level of detail provided. Studies reporting a significant improvement in walking and cycling outcomes incorporated a significantly higher number of BCTs into their design, when compared with studies that failed to produce significant changes, or did not report on significance.

Conclusions
Although the inclusion of multiple BCTs into intervention design is a time consuming, complex process; their inclusion appears to improve the potential of the intervention to achieve the desired outcomes of promoting and increasing walking and cycling behaviour.


Objective: Current treatment models of Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) emphasise maladaptive worry cognitions in the aetiology and maintenance of the disorder. However, although worry cognitions are often relational in content, interpersonal and developmental concomitants of the disorder have been neglected in contemporary research. New models of treatment are urgently needed as current evidence suggests that over half of those treated with the current best practice therapies gain only limited help and remain symptomatic. This study adopts an interpersonal attachment perspective to studying GAD to examine the purported links between adult cognitive, interpersonal and emotional functioning and the related perceptions of early family environment. Method: Study 1 (quantitative, N=100) investigated 50 participants with GAD compared with 50 normal control participants matched by age, sex and marital status. The measures investigated symptoms of GAD, alexithymia, interpersonal factors, parental bonding, attachment and relationship patterns. Study 2 (qualitative, N=12 GAD) explored pervasive relationship themes in childhood experiences. Results: Study 1 found that GAD participants had more emotional and interpersonal difficulties than controls. Fearful and preoccupied attachment sub-types were associated with these interpersonal difficulties, which may predispose worry. Study 2 found that these interpersonal patterns related sensibly to perceptions of early family environments. Six pervasive early childhood themes provided insight into possible GAD vulnerability. Conclusion: There is a need to consider specific interpersonal concomitants into the clinical picture of GAD. The proposed developmental/interpersonal model needs replication. It may be important to incorporate an interpersonal and emotional component to the treatment of GAD.


In scheelite-type La0.667[MoO4], one crystallographically unique position with site symmetry -4.. and an occupancy of 2/3 is found for the La3+ cation. The cation is surrounded by eight O atoms in the shape of a trigonal dodecahedron. The structure also contains one [MoO4]2− anion (site symmetry -4..), which is surrounded by eight vertex-attached La3+ cations. The polyhedra around the La3+ cations are interconnected via common edges, building up a three-dimensional network, in the tetrahedral voids of which the Mo6+ cations reside.


Carrier mobilities and concentrations were measured for different p- and n-type silicon materials in the temperature range 0.3–300 K. Simulations show that experimentally determined carrier mobilities are best described in this temperature range by Klaassen's model. Freeze-out reduces the carrier concentration with decreasing temperature. Freeze-out, however, depends on the dopant type and initial concentration. Semi-classical calculations are useful only for temperatures above 100 K. Otherwise quantum mechanical calculations are required.


In kernel based learning, the kernel trick transforms the original representation of a feature instance into a vector of similarities with the training feature instances, known as kernel representation. However, feature instances are sometimes ambiguous and the kernel representation calculated based on them do not possess any discriminative information, which can eventually harm the trained classifier. To address this issue, we propose to automatically select good feature instances when calculating the kernel representation in multiple kernel learning. Specifically, for the kernel representation calculated for each input feature instance, we multiply it element-wise with a latent binary vector named as instance selection variables, which targets at selecting good instances and attenuate the effect of ambiguous ones in the resulting new kernel representation. Beta process is employed for generating the prior distribution for the latent instance selection variables. We then propose a Bayesian graphical model which integrates both MKL learning and inference for the distribution of the latent instance selection variables. Variational inference is derived for model learning under a max-margin principle. Our method is called Beta process multiple kernel learning. Extensive experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on instance selection and its high discriminative capability for various classification problems in vision.